Learn Hardcore Greek: Τα χρώματα των σύννεφων στον ουρανό το βράδυ είναι πολύ όμορφα. - The colors of the clouds in the sky in the evening are very beautiful.

Τα – the (definite article, neuter plural, nominative)
χρώματα – colors (noun, neuter plural, nominative; singular: χρώμα)
των – of the (definite article, genitive plural)
σύννεφων – clouds (noun, neuter plural, genitive; singular: σύννεφο)
στον – in/on the (contraction of σε
- τον, “in/to” + “the”, masculine accusative)
ουρανό – sky (noun, masculine singular, accusative; nominative: ουρανός)
το – the (definite article, neuter singular, accusative)
βράδυ – evening (noun, neuter singular, accusative)
είναι – are (3rd person plural of είμαι, “to be”)
πολύ – very (adverb here)
όμορφα – beautiful (adjective, neuter plural, nominative; base form: όμορφος – όμορφη – όμορφο)

So the structure is roughly:

[The colors] [of the clouds] [in the sky] [in the evening] [are very beautiful].

Why is χρώματα neuter plural, and why is όμορφα in that same form?

In Greek, adjectives must agree with the noun they describe in gender, number, and case.

χρώματα is:
- neuter
- plural
- nominative (subject of the verb είναι)

So the adjective used in the predicate, όμορφα, also appears as:

neuter plural nominative, to match χρώματα.

The base forms of the adjective are:

όμορφος (masc.), όμορφη (fem.), όμορφο (neut.)

The nominative plural forms are:

όμορφοι (masc. pl.)
όμορφες (fem. pl.)
όμορφα (neut. pl.)

We choose όμορφα because it has to agree with the neuter plural noun χρώματα.

You cannot say Τα χρώματα … είναι πολύ όμορφοι / όμορφες – that would be a gender mismatch.

Why is των σύννεφων in the genitive case? What is it doing grammatically?

Των σύννεφων expresses a relationship like “of the clouds” in English.

Greek typically uses the genitive case for:

possession or belonging
“of”-phrases
part–whole relationships

Here:

Τα χρώματα – the colors (subject)
των σύννεφων – of the clouds (genitive plural)

So των σύννεφων answers “whose colors?” / “colors of what?” and therefore must be in the genitive plural:

singular: του σύννεφου – “of the cloud”
plural: των σύννεφων – “of the clouds”

What exactly is στον ουρανό and why is ουρανό not in the nominative?

Στον ουρανό is a prepositional phrase meaning “in the sky” or “in the heavens”.

σε = in, at, on, to (very general preposition)
τον = the (masculine singular accusative article)
σε + τον → στον (this contraction is standard in Greek)
ουρανό = sky in the accusative singular (nominative is ουρανός)

In Modern Greek, most simple prepositions (including σε) are followed by the accusative case, not the nominative. So:

στον ουρανό – “in the sky” (masc. acc.)
στη θάλασσα – “in the sea” (fem. acc.)
στο σπίτι – “in the house” (neut. acc.)

That is why we say στον ουρανό, not σε ο ουρανός or σε ο ουρανός in nominative.

Why is το βράδυ in the accusative with no preposition, and how does it mean “in the evening”?

Greek often uses a bare accusative (no preposition) to express time when something happens. This is very common with parts of the day:

το πρωί – (in) the morning
το μεσημέρι – (at) noon
το απόγευμα – (in) the afternoon
το βράδυ – (in) the evening
τη νύχτα – (at) night

Grammatically, το βράδυ is:

το – definite article, neuter singular accusative
βράδυ – noun, neuter singular accusative

Functionally, it behaves like “time expression” = when? → (at) the evening, so we translate it as “in the evening” or “at night (but more ‘evening-ish’)” in natural English.

So:

Τα χρώματα … το βράδυ είναι πολύ όμορφα.
literally: “The colors … the evening are very beautiful.”
understood as: “The colors … are very beautiful in the evening.”

Why does the verb είναι look the same for singular and plural “is/are”?

Είναι is the 3rd person form of είμαι (“to be”), and in the present tense it is used for:

he / she / it is – αυτός / αυτή / αυτό είναι
they are – αυτοί / αυτές / αυτά είναι

So the form είναι covers both singular and plural third person. You have to use context to know which it is.

In this sentence, the subject is plural (Τα χρώματα – “the colors”), so είναι means “are”.

Contrast with:

Είμαι – I am
Είσαι – you are (sg.)
Είμαστε – we are
Είστε – you are (pl. / polite)

Why is πολύ not changing form to agree with χρώματα? Shouldn’t it be πολλά?

Πολύ in this sentence is an adverb meaning “very”, and adverbs in Greek are invariable (they don’t change for gender/number/case):

πολύ όμορφα – very beautiful

When πολύς / πολλή / πολύ is used as an adjective meaning “many / much”, then it does agree:

πολλά χρώματα – many colors (neuter plural)
πολλοί άνθρωποι – many people (masc. plural)
πολλές μέρες – many days (fem. plural)

Here we are not saying “many beautiful colors”, but “the colors … are very beautiful”. So we correctly use the adverb:

είναι πολύ όμορφα – they are very beautiful

If you said Τα χρώματα … είναι πολλά όμορφα, that would be wrong.

Could we rearrange the word order, for example put το βράδυ at the beginning?

Yes. Greek word order is relatively flexible, especially for adverbials (time, place, manner). All of these are grammatical and natural:

Τα χρώματα των σύννεφων στον ουρανό το βράδυ είναι πολύ όμορφα.
Το βράδυ τα χρώματα των σύννεφων στον ουρανό είναι πολύ όμορφα.
Τα χρώματα των σύννεφων το βράδυ στον ουρανό είναι πολύ όμορφα.

The most neutral or common versions are probably 1 and 2.

Subtle differences:

Starting with Το βράδυ (version 2) puts a bit more emphasis on the time:
“In the evening, the colors of the clouds in the sky are very beautiful.”
Keeping the subject first (version 1) is very straightforward and slightly more “textbook” for learners.

But grammatically all these orders are fine as long as the article–noun–adjective relationships and prepositions stay intact.

Why do we use the definite article τα / των / στον / το so much, even when English might omit the?

Greek uses the definite article far more frequently than English, including:

with general plural nouns:
- Τα χρώματα – the colors (here, the specific colors that appear)
with possessive / of‑phrases:
- των σύννεφων – of the clouds
with prepositional phrases:
- στον ουρανό – in the sky
with time expressions:
- το βράδυ – in the evening

English sometimes omits the where Greek keeps it, especially in general or abstract statements. But in this specific English sentence, we also use the quite a lot, so it lines up fairly well:

The colors of the clouds in the sky in the evening are very beautiful.

A useful rule of thumb for learners:
If you are talking about a specific, identifiable thing or group, or about a noun modified by a genitive or adjective, Greek almost always uses the definite article.

What is the difference between βράδυ and νύχτα?

Both relate to the later part of the day but are not identical:

βράδυ – evening, early night
- Roughly from sunset until around 10–11 p.m. (varies culturally)
- Feels like “evening”
νύχτα – night, late night
- After proper night has fallen, often when people are sleeping
- Stronger feeling of “nighttime”

So:

Το βράδυ – in the evening
Τη νύχτα – at night

In this sentence, το βράδυ suggests the sky at sunset / early night, when colorful clouds are visible.

How do you pronounce the whole sentence, and where are the stresses?

The stressed syllables are marked with accents in Greek spelling, and they are important for correct pronunciation:

Τα χρώματα των σύννεφων στον ουρανό το βράδυ είναι πολύ όμορφα.

A simple phonetic guide (approximate English-style):

Τα – ta
χρώματα – HRO‑ma‑ta (χ = like German Bach)
των – ton (like “ton” in “tonic”)
σύννεφων – SEE‑ne‑fon
στον – ston
ουρανό – u‑ra‑NO
το – to (like “toh”)
βράδυ – VRA‑dhi (δ = soft “th” as in “this”)
είναι – EE‑ne
πολύ – po‑LEE
όμορφα – O‑mor‑fa

In IPA (approximate for Standard Modern Greek):

/ta ˈxromata ton ˈsinefon ston uraˈno to ˈvraði ˈine poˈli ˈomorfa/